Today Balotelli and Barzagli did not take part in full training and Professor EnricoCastellacci gave an update.

“Balotelli has back pain and we have no idea how long he’ll take to recover, as with this type of problem we have to evaluate it day by day. We tested him running, but he felt pain and so we reserved him for physiotherapy.

“We certainly hope he will recover in time to face the Czech Republic, but we cannot guarantee that. We are working to have him there, but do not want to force the issue.

“El Shaarawy is already doing decidedly better and we’ll see how his foot reacts to kicking the ball today.”

Defender Barzagli has been struggling with an Achilles tendon problem over the last few weeks.

“This could take a while, so we’ll now have to test him out for a better idea on how long it’ll be.”